The cost pressure behind every decision
In today’s competitive European pork market, producers are under pressure like never before. Feed prices remain volatile, labour is harder to find and keep, and regulatory requirements continue to rise. In the UK, outdoor pig production adds additional complexity and importance to sow resilience, which makes sow performance even more critical to long-term profitability.
Yet amid these shifting dynamics, one thing is constant: profitability remains the key to survival.
It’s not just about staying afloat. Profitability allows investment in new facilities, supports hiring and training quality staff, and ensures the long-term sustainability of the business. But margins are increasingly slim. Producers are expected to deliver more pigs, at heavier weights, with lower input costs, while adhering to evolving welfare and environmental standards.
For sow herds particularly, every extra piglet weaned matters. Every kilo gained at weaning helps. And every day saved in the reproductive cycle counts. The challenge producers face is how to extract more value from each sow—not by working harder, but by working smarter.
Where Profit is built: Four key levers
1. More pigs per sow
High reproductive efficiency is fundamental. This starts with a high number of piglets born alive—but that’s only the beginning. These piglets must be viable, grow well, and survive through weaning to add real economic value.
In commercial conditions, sows are weaning consistently more than 30 piglets/year while requiring less input. This is achieved through a combination of strong genetics, robust piglet vitality, and excellent sow mothering traits – Read more
2. Heavier litters at weaning
Weaning weight is one of the most reliable early indicators of later finishing performance. Heavier piglets grow faster and require fewer treatments and less management. Especially since the ban on the pharmacological use of zinc oxide, this translates into more stable batches, fewer losses and reduced labour input.
PIC was not only the first genetics supplier to establish litter weight at weaning as a key selection objective – piglet growth to weaning has now also been added as a new trait in the genetic evaluation. This combines the individual piglet’s gain with the sow’s milk performance. As a result, selection simultaneously and deliberately focuses on sows with consistently strong litters and fast-growing piglets – to improve farm profitability.
For the sow herd manager, this means reduced risk in piglet rearing – a particularly important factor given the rising demands around animal welfare and medication use.
3. Feed efficiency downstream
Feed costs make up to 70% of total production expenses. Even minor improvements in feed conversion ratio (FCR) can result in significant savings across the operation. And this starts with piglets who grow efficiently from day one.
In elite PIC herds, improved maternal FCR has led to over 6% reduction in feed costs per kg of pork.
Studies from PIC’s Feed efficiency – a holistic view report show that a 0.1 improvement in FCR yields a savings of approximately €4.18 per finisher pig, translating into around €117.74 saved per sow per year. Read more
4. More litters per sow per year
A sow that returns to oestrus quickly after weaning produces more litters each year. This directly increases the number of pigs produced per sow per year, while stabilizing batch planning and space utilization.
Data from commercial conditions documented sows averaging 2.40 litters/year consistently, significantly improving throughput.
Traits that make the difference: A chain reaction of profitability
Think of your farm like a production line—each sow, each litter, each day needs to contribute value. But it’s not one metric that builds that value—it’s the way traits connect in sequence, reinforcing each other. That’s why PIC created a balanced selection system: to optimize every link in the chain.
And it all starts with litter weaning weight—the keystone trait for profitable production.
Why litter weaning weight matters
PIC was the first breeding program to recognize and prioritize litter weaning weight as a core selection trait. Here’s why:
1. Stronger piglets start faster
Piglets heavier at weaning are less vulnerable to stress and disease—not just based on age, but weight. That means fewer sick days, more stable pens.
2. Faster growth = fewer days on feed
Those litters grow quicker through nursery and finishing stages, reducing the time pigs stay on your farm and lowering your feed bill.
3. Improved feed conversion ratio (FCR)
Better growth rates, combined with genetic selection for feed efficiency, mean you spend less feed per kilogram produced.
4. Shorter wean-to-service interval (WSI)
When sows wean healthy litters efficiently, they return to oestrus sooner. That’s more litters per year—straightforward impact on sow throughput.
This sequence—better weaning weights leading to more efficient growth, better feed conversion, and higher reproductive throughput—is not accidental. It’s engineered. And it’s only possible when a breeding program is designed for balance, not extremes.
That’s where PIC stands apart.
Traits are selected with economic weightings calibrated to deliver return, not headlines. The result? A sow that doesn’t just wean more pigs—she weans the right kind of pigs, at the right weight, with the right structure to perform in real farms.
In other words, PIC females don’t win on one trait. They win where it matters: in your bottom line.
Built for profitability: The PIC female portfolio
Traits are selected with economic weightings calibrated to deliver return, not headlines. The result? A sow that doesn’t just wean more pigs—she weans the right kind of pigs, at the right weight, with the right structure to perform in real commercial conditions.
In the UK, producers can benefit from a flexible female portfolio designed to suit both indoor and outdoor systems:
Camborough® remains the gold standard in sow productivity and robustness, delivering consistent litter sizes and excellent maternal performance.
PIC®X54 offers enhanced structure, excellent longevity, and high throughput, with a special fit for integrated operations or high-intensity systems.
For outdoor production systems, which represent a significant share of UK breeding herds, PIC also offers Camborough®50 and Camborough®22—variants specifically developed to maintain condition, mother large litters, and thrive in harsher, more variable environments.
These lines ensure that no matter the production system, UK producers can choose a sow that aligns with their operational model, environment, and profitability goals.
Summary: Different paths, one goal.
In the modern UK competitive market, only proven performance earns trust.
PIC females are not selected for a single trait—they are built for system-wide profitability.
By combining reproductive efficiency, feed efficiency, sow longevity, and piglet vitality into a balanced breeding objective, PIC helps producers build systems that perform consistently, not occasionally.
That’s how value is built—not through extremes, but through alignment between what genetics deliver and what producers need.
Contact the PIC team to evaluate which solution fits your goals best.
